Zipping Not Flipping

Once upon a time I had an idea that it would be fun to do white water rafting here in New Zealand, on the Kaituna River – not just any rafting but grade 5 white water rafting with the worlds tallest commercially raftable waterfall, the 7m high Tutea Falls. I have been rafting once. Just once. And I don’t swim. And I’m not particularly comfortable in the water so I had questioned this decision from the start. I’ve been agonizing over my ego letting me cancel; especially since I learned a few days ago that one in three rafts FLIPS UPSIDE DOWN coming down the falls. I feel like I would lose my shit if that happened. However, the fate of the world and nature has come to the rescue again and yesterday I received an email that my rafting trip had been cancelled. Due to the recent rains the river is flowing at its maximum capacity and due to safety issues it is closed to rafting. Score! The company offered me a zip line tour where I would zip line over the river instead and I was all over it. As my last full day I have a pretty clear schedule outlined; zip lining then the Hamurana Springs, then a mud bath at Hells Gate, and finally the Skyline gondola up the hillside in Rotorua for wine tasting and dinner.

Driving out of Rotorua to Okere the roads were a buzz of normal everyday life. Little kids were all over the neighborhoods walking and riding their bikes to school, commuters were commuting, all the activity of a normal 8am.

I arrived right on time at the adventure center in Okere to a group of cheery Kiwi and Māori guides and other guests. The guides offered to lend phone straps to anyone who wanted to secure their phone for the excursion and I appreciated that nice touch. Myself and the other six zippers were strapped into harnesses, fit with helmets, and loaded into a van for a whopping one minute drive to the start of our adventure. I had anxiety leaving my purse with ID and car keys behind at the main office but if there’s one place it’s safe to do so I feel like this is it. Guide Nui pointed out steps down to view the river, encouraging anyone who wanted to see it raging to head down the steps because we’d only see it from the air the rest of the time. Of course I took the steep steps down to, well, almost to, a viewing platform. I had to stop a couple steps short of the platform as it was completely flooded with the river absolutely raging across. Yah, I’m definitely not sad that my rafting was cancelled.

Strapped into my first line I had that brief pang of anxiety; it lasted about 2 seconds and was quickly whisked away as I zipped off the platform, immediately distracted by breathtaking rain forest views over the river below. Wow. Talk about a Birds Eye view. I tensed as I neared the end of the first line, ready for the jolt of a zip line brake but it was like gliding in on glass. This is the smoothest zip lining I have ever done. As we walked across platforms and boardwalks protecting the forest floor between lines Nui and Sam taught us more about the power of nature and how it has been and still is used. I learned of the navigational uses of the silver fern, flipped over pointing in the direction Māori trail scouts were headed, and the medicinal uses of kawa kawa. How have I not heard of this kawa kawa wonder drug before?! Before the next line we learned about the native birds and how detrimental invasive species have been to their survival. A whopping 68,000 birds are killed each night by introduced predators such as weasels, possums, and cats. Without the wood pigeon to disburse the seeds, roughly 40% of the trees would be lost. Sam and Nui did a great job interspersing humor and interesting facts into the lessons.

Reaching the line that would take us not just over the river but over Tutea Falls, which I would have been white water rafting down, I asked if it was true that one in three rafts flip. “Kind of, in these conditions and this time of year it’s 100%.” I sat with that little notion as Nui shared more about the history of the river and water falls. It was a Māori custom to return life force back to the river by putting deceased bodies in the river for the eels to eat before the remains of the body were then removed for burial. How close one’s body was placed to the waterfall was a reflection of their status. The high chief, Chief Tutea, was so sacred that his body was placed directly under the waterfall and then finally interred in a cave behind it. While the sites have been cleared over the years of the deceased Māori bodies, this particular chief’s is the only that still remains. After zip lining across the waterfall, each person was then manually pulled back out to the middle of the line for a chance to take in the power of the river and falls from above. I have never had that opportunity on a zip line before and it was so cool to just be hanging out, chilling on a line, high up in the air. (This first video is courtesy of Nui since I had my arm too much in frame on mine so his is better.)

Instead of a zip line, the next part of the adventure was a swing bridge; high over the river and trees with no rails on either side. Sam went halfway across and showed us how we could hang from the side of the bridge for some good pictures. Everyone was trepidatious and I was the first to volunteer to lead the pack. Nui strapped a line overhead and I steadily walked out to Sam. Following his guidance I stepped one foot onto the side of the bridge, then the other, then slowly put more and more confidence in my harness as I leaned back. It wasn’t that bad and felt so freeing! My only regret is that I didn’t spend more time comfortably splaying my arms wide. There’s not even a good picture of it. Speaking of pictures, it’s pretty awesome that Nui and Sam have been snapping pictures as we go that they say they will send to us all afterwards – as a courtesy and not a crazy up charge.

In true Kiwi form, even during a zip line adventure there is a break for a cup of tea. Nui and Sam led us to a small seating area and handed us each a cup of fresh kawa kawa tree as they shared how their company has been restoring the forest to the once cleared land that we had now found ourselves in. Looking around, I could see the young trees freshly planted on the hillside. They are proud to be at capacity for the current number of trees to be forested. Previously, they used to give adventure goers the opportunity to plant a tree but so many had been planted in the available land that it is no longer part of the day. Instead, we were each given a tree tag that they would save and when additional trees were planted higher up the hill they would attach. The following line was a tandem race line. Since I was the only person solo in the group I got to race Sam and, of course, he let me win.

Sadly, we approached the last line of the day; with the choice to go upside down. It was a short line and Nui showed us how to lay back, drape our knees over the handles, and fly free before we pull our knees off the handles to right side ourselves before making it to the platform. I settled into being upside down and spread my arms wide briefly before worrying I would lose my glasses, again, I wish I had more confidence to have been a little more free. Going spread eagle like a lady I uprighted myself properly and was sad that my zip lining was over.

With my day timed down to the half hour I was supposed to head straight from zip lining up to Hamurana Springs to explore the natural park and wildlife refuge with unimaginable blue lagoons. But the guides had recommended the Okere Cafe right next door and it was about lunch time so I figured I should check it out. I was putting myself behind schedule stopping for lunch but its ok, my turmeric latte and turkish eggs were a medley of perfectly balanced flavors and worth every second. I love that they serve lattes just warm and cozy instead of piping hot in New Zealand.

Hamurana Springs was just a few minutes up the road and was I barely off my self-imposed schedule when I arrived. And found the gate closed. With a sign on the gate. Hamurana Springs was closed. This has been on my list since my first trip to New Zealand. Ugh. I sat in my car in front of the closed gate trying to decide what to do with myself. Were there other hikes in the area? With the river overflowing so my guess is that the river trails would likely be flooded in spots.

With nothing else that would fit into my schedule geographically I decided to just head to Hell’s Gate ahead of schedule and do their geothermal trail before the mud and sulphur spas. I had planned on just doing the spas since I’ve done the trail before but I needed some movement to work off my turkish eggs.

Rain was starting to drizzle again as I entered the geothermal park at Hells Gate. It’s a different look than other geothermal areas; the ground and waters are mostly black or gray with cracked earth looking arrid and parched. Sulfur smells fill the air and make it hard to stand in one place for too long. It’s crazy how deep some of the pools are here, the main hot pool actually known as Hell’s Gate is 25m deep with temperatures over 113F.

It’s also crazy that these geothermal areas just appear in the middle of the bush. Standing in one spot and turning full circle the entire geothermal area is surrounded by trees and greenery, somehow just in this little valley the earth’s anger and power surge through. Between arid sulphur belching pits and land there is even a narrow patch of bush with a lovely hot water falls. Such a trip.

I stood in one spot just listening to the sounds around me. On one side of the path was quickly hissing sizzles, like water being sprinkled into a hot frying pan, on the other side the deep gurgle of boiling mud bouncing and spraying.

After walking the path I changed into my swimwear and was directed to a mud spa. When I say mud spa, I really mean mud spa, think like a backyard jacuzzi spa but full of thick mud on the bottom, muddy water, and a basket of fresh made (directly from a certain mud pool in the geothermal park each day) to pull from to rub on your body. Supposedly 20 minutes is the ideal mudding time. A couple was in the spa when I was first directed but left soon thereafter and I sat listening to music, rubbing mud all over myself, and trying not to get bored. Just when I was reaching peak boredom and about to call it on my own, the attendant came over to let me know I’d hit the 20 minute mark. Perfect. I rinsed off in the outdoor shower and made my way into the sulphur spa. This time a “fresh” clear water with sulphur waters piped in from the geothermal park each day. I was getting antsy though and after about two minutes my boredom got the best of me. I retrieved my locker (ie: a plastic bin that the attendants watch over) and spent an excessive amount of time in the changing room shower soaping myself up and trying to wash the eau de sulphur scent off of me.

Boredom continued to wash over me as got back into my car. What the heck do I do with myself now? It was only about 2:30pm and the next item on my itinerary wasn’t until the Skyline at 4:15pm. Feeling melancholy and completely lacking enthusiasm I decided to head to Lake Rotorua and spend my free time on the lakefront path, it’s supposed to be about a two hour walk to see the sulphur beach so I guess I had an answer, even though by the time I got there I only had about 75 minutes to kill. I started to walk, smelling the sulphuric lake, and trying to be interested. Black swans dotted the water and a lone Canadian goose looked wildly out of place. Dude must have really gotten himself lost. No matter how hard I tried, I was just not interested. I walked for maybe 15-20 minutes before turning back towards my car.

Next to the car park is the Volcanic Air office, the company that does helicopter and sea plane tours. I have decided that I’m bored enough and have had enough down time today that I don’t want to keep my mud wrap and spa appointment booked for tomorrow so I need something else to do with that time now. Perhaps this is a good idea? I walked into their office with a simple question – what flights do you have planned in the next 24 hours that you could get me on? A helpful young women pulled up the schedule and descriptions to review with me while two other personnel spoke in the background with concerns about the weather and winds. As tempted as I was, and I was REALLY tempted, I decided that when it comes to helicopters and teeny tiny planes I’m a bit on the conservative side so I opted not to bite in the questionable weather.

By now I was nearing the time I needed to start heading towards the Skyline. I changed into more wine tasting suitable leggings (as opposed to hiking pants) in the car and realized I needed to cancel my spa appointment for tomorrow. As long as I get the cancellation through within 12 hours I’ll get my money back. The Polynesian Spa is just down the street from the lake front car park so I opted to just drive over there on my way and cancel in person. I did not expect them to take so damn long to assist me, nor did I expect to turn the wrong way out of the parking lot and get stuck without a turn off for ten minutes. From having all sorts of time to kill to running late for my wine tasting I was starting to stress over time.

Rushing up to the Skyline there was no wait and I rode the gondola up the side of the mountain, checking out the views of the town and lake below and chastising myself for stressing over running late. I don’t know why I felt the need to stress over the time, everyone is so lax and accommodating here. I was surprised to be greeted by a giant Jelly Belly statue at the top of the gondola. Funny to see a jelly belly store here when the main factory is only an hour from my home.

With only about 25 minutes before they closed, I arrived at the Volcano Hills Winery tasting room. Given the time, the lady assisting me poured all five of my “tastes” for me at once and holy smokes, these were not just tastes, these were about half a glass each! My general review: the sauvingon blanc was good, the pinot gris a wow, the pinot noir meh, the syrah a wow, and the rosé a wow. Of course, after basically drinking 2 1/2 glasses of wine in 20 minutes who can say if my judgment could still be trusted. Cognizant of that fact and that I can get plenty of good wine at home, I was proud of myself for walking away empty handed. A wee bit tipsy, but empty handed.

Dinner at the Stratosfare restaurant was next on my itinerary. And again nobody cared that I was a few minutes late. I was sat at a “premium” window table and brought a glass of wine of my choosing. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Stratosfare given that it was really a bit of a tourist trap restaurant but the buffet, their only dining option, was impressive. I barely sipped on my wine after having had plenty at my wine tasting but filled my belly with all sorts of salad, dolmas, rolls, mussels, meats, veggies, and desserts. I really need to cook more pumpkin at home. I overheard someone at a nearby table order a Lagavulin 16 scotch and curiously looked at the drink menu to see what the going rate was for it there – I was shocked at how affordable, at the equivalent of $7 USD per ounce pour, it was the cheapest I’d ever seen it on a menu.

Finishing dinner and feeling full, I rode the gondola back down to my car and decided to stop in the redwood forest for an after dinner hike.

I had over an hour of sunlight left and needed some more movement. I chose the Mokopuna Trail, with its perfect one hour hike time estimate, and marched off into the shadowy redwood forest. The trail markers were terrible and I wasn’t feeling like I was following the trail in the shape I expected based on the trail map. After 25 minutes I decided to turn back and and return to my car via the way I came; its just a redwood forest (ironically one full of California redwoods) so everything looks the same anyways. To my surprise, even back tracking didn’t work out quite right because I popped out onto the main road that borders the forest. I’m sure as hell not on the trail or even properly back tracking but being on the main road I’m also not lost so this is good enough.

Back in my AirBnB just as the sun was setting, my last full day in New Zealand has come to an end. I don’t fly out until 10:30pm tomorrow night and I need to allow about three hours drive time back to Auckland. Aside from the drive, I have no idea what I’ll do with myself tomorrow now that the spa is cancelled. For once, I can’t say that I’m sad for it to be my last night in New Zealand. It’s time, I’m ready to get back.